The Studio

The Studio is the place for making and creating at SIGGRAPH 2010. Roll your sleeves up and get hands on in this three-ring circus of technological wonders. It is an amazing space where experts, attendees, and the latest technologies are brought together to create new works, experiment, and collaborate. Leave your old work behind, come to The Studio, and create something new.

New Scheduled Activities in The Studio for 2010!

Studio Workshops
A series of in-depth workshops taught the best in the industry in our new 15 person classroom.

Studio Presentations
Take a behind-the-scenes look at Studio related technologies, artwork, and concepts.

In the Studio, you'll find technologies specifically set up for you to use and create with. Our experts make special arrangements with research labs, developers, universities, and vendors to provide access to technologies that are not easily accessible elsewhere. Attendees can experiment and create new works with large-format printing, motion capture, interactive music, the latest software suites, high-end computing workstations, laser scanning, and many new additions to The Studio.

New Girl Scout Games for Life Workshop
Tuesday, 27 July, 7 - 9 am, The Studio
Want to be able to run a one-day workshop in computer game design for your local Girl Scout Troop? The Girl Scouts have an Interest Project called Games for Life, and SIGGRAPH 2010 offers a day of activities that will allow girls to get most of their badge requirements done in a single day by learning about game design in the morning, having lunch with professional designers, and designing and making themed games with Game Maker in the afternoon.

If this sounds like something you'd like to do, please join us for the evening workshop, where you'll learn about introductory design content and get some hands-on experience with Game Maker and the asset kit. You are also welcome, but not required, to drop in on the workshop the next day.

The Studio Activities

2D Printing and Color ManagementLearn the ins and outs of color management and inkjet printing via one-on-one instruction and group demonstrations that introduce how to use color management correctly and control the output from inkjet printers. See how simple it is to color calibrate your monitor and how to preview your colors correctly. Then produce your own mini poster as a practical exercise using the basics of color management. Please see the staff in the 2D Printing area for demonstration times or to set up a one-on-one session.

Blow Up! Inflatable Sculpture and Wearable ArtWithin the Blow Up! activity area, attendees design unique 3D digital sculpture, furniture, or wearable art for transfer to 2D pattern layouts. The patterns can then be cut, assembled, and inflated to be admired, sat upon, or worn. Be creative and blow it up!

DIYLILCNCCAM (computer-aided manufacturing) processes require complex hardware and software to function. Although there are many open-source software solutions, inexpensive, precise and easily modifiable hardware designs are far less common. DIYLILCNC fills this gap by offering three related resources. The first is a set of plans describing the construction of a fully functional desktop mill for about $700. The second is a 65-page companion booklet that exhaustively documents assembly, part numbers, software tuning, and more. And third, all this material is available online, where an international community in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK has embraced the design.

Gigapan Gigapixel ImagingGigaPan consists of three innovations: a robotic camera mount for automatically capturing hundreds to thousands of images using a standard digital camera, custom software for stitching images into very high-resolution (gigapixel) panoramas, and a new type of web site for sharing and exploring these panoramas. In addition to the EPIC robotic imager for compact digital cameras and the EPIC 100 for a broad range of point-and-shoot cameras, GigaPan introduces the new EPIC Pro for DSLR cameras.

History of the Sky Time-LapseA time-lapse visualization of the sky, showing the dynamics of weather, light, and other atmospheric phenomena over a long span of time. Still images of the sky are captured every 10 seconds from a DIY camera rig, compiled into a large grid of time-lapse movies (each representing a day), and arranged consecutively. This is currently a work-in-progress, and is presently on display at the Exploratorium.

I-CubeX SessionsI-CubeX Sessions highlight a trend that combines technological innovation in real-time sensor interfacing, control surfaces, visual programming, and sound sequencing. The sessions show how to use these tools together, providing a hands-on understanding of I-CubeX sensors' capabilities (what they can capture and how they could be applied), operation (how to set up a number of sensors and create and control output), and application (how to work with the sensors in Live and Max/MSP/Jitter).

LiDAR Laser Scanning (Merging Real and Virtual Worlds)Learn the basics and concepts of 3D LiDAR scanning in real-time, real-world environments. This project demonstrates the importance of accuracy, point spacing, and positioning for proper data capturing; how to convert 3D scan data to a solid model; and how to work directly with point-cloud data for virtual planning, development, design, visulization, and production.

MonkeyLectricExperience and interact with unique persistence-of-vision video displays based on spinning bike wheels. Experiment with a 3D spherical display that shows generative visual art. Adjust and control the display parameters yourself to learn about persistence of vision methods. Draw your own pictures and display them on a full-color display built into a bike wheel. Spin the wheels of a bike fitted with light-art displays.

Motion CaptureLearn how to create animations using the Impulse Motion Capture System. This fun, hands-on, accelerated, step-by-step motion-capture process covers everything from selecting and mapping digital characters to directing the capture and selecting captures for final rendering. Edit suites are available to complete the production. PhaseSpace offers a preview of the new advanced vision system, a technology certain to set a new standard for high-quality, high-speed motion capture. Also available: the Magic Window, a new wireless virtual camera, currently a very hot topic in film production. The virtual camera allows the director to move around the set with ease and view the virtual scene from any angle in real time.

People Behind the Pixels Photographic MosaicBecome part of The Studio's large logo print! Photographs of SIGGRAPH 2010 attendees become "pixels" in a large logo image through photographic mosaic processing. Stop by The Studio, have your photograph taken, and become a part of our "image bank". You can also produce your own smaller photographic mosaic while you're there. Don't forget to look for our large photographic mosaic print toward the end of the conference. It's your chance to become one of our "People Behind the Pixels".

Pixilated PeopleA short, animated, stop-motion, pixilated film featuring SIGGRAPH 2010 attendees in front of and behind the camera. Participants can sit and/or act frame-by-frame in front of a stop-motion camera. Dragon stop-motion software allows participants to register one human subject to the next, positioning the subject for placement and action poses behind the camera. Some human images are captured in front of a green screen so participants can watch the matting process in progress in the shooting area. The camera's primary location is in The Studio, but it will also travel throughout the convention center. The final 90-second film featuring hundreds of SIGGRAPH 2010 attendees will be available online after the conference.

Portrait VirusThis multimedia performance work was created by new-media art historian Patric Prince and a small group of artists, and presented at CyberArts 3 in Pasadena, California in 1992. Michael Wright's video-captured, Amiga-processed portraits were passed along to artists Randy Oliver, Paras Kaul, and Barbara Mons, who each manipulated the portraits and the process. The end product was returned and projected at the site of origin. The artist intervened as a virus infecting pure digital information. The work was historic in its use of video, Amigas, Macs, and PCs communicating across platforms over a young internet.

Rapid Manufacturing and ProcessesLearn how to create three-dimensional objects with the newest computer-aided design software (Z-Brush and Rhino 3D) and computer-aided-manufacturing software such as Rhino CAM. Attendees work with hand-held 3D laser scanners to develop usable 3D data for virtual and tangible output, and instructors explain how to properly format data for 3D output. 3D printing output of your scanned and designed data will be handled by the latest technology, ranging from multi-jet, inkjet printing to fused deposition, film-transfer imaging and various open-source DIY machines.

Real-Time Mosaic Video StudioThis activity shows attendees some of the interactive image-manipulation techniques pioneered by artist-technologists such as Daniel Rozin and Ben Fry and walks them through how to apply the techniques with the open-source, cross-platform Processing language. The methods were used to create Barbie Mirror, which translates live video into a moving mosaic of tiny Barbie-doll faces. Attendees learn how to create the same mosaic effect with their own image collections.

Small World Explorations Project: Macro/Micro/Nano GigapansLearn how to create gigapixel-resolution photographs of macro, micro, and nano subjects. Newly developed software processes and high-tech robotic image-capture systems make it possible to image tiny subjects with unprecedented resolution, quality, and depth of field. Explore these new systems and learn how you can implement the technology in your lab, school, or home. Ongoing development of these technologies is a collaborative endeavor among Gigapan.org, Carnegie Mellon, NASA, and Four Chambers Studio.

WearablesThis area focuses on human-body-centered technologies used for creative expression, biofeedback, expanded sensory modalities, communication, and other purposes. Attendees can learn about wearable technology by exploring commercial, high-end research and do-it-yourself examples of wearables, and then make their own wearable projects with expert guidance. These projects utilize Arduino micro-controllers, a variety of sensors and actuators such as servo motors and RGB light-emitting diodes, inflatable plastic forms, and sophisticated folding structures. Projects are accessible to children and attendees with no electronics experience,but they also offer experienced technicians exciting challenges and creative opportunities.